These six stories by Nobel Prize-winner J. M. Coetzee show us, once more, a writer confronting moral and emotional quandaries, often with wry humour. In the lead story, ‘The Pole’, concert pianist Witold attempts to play out a romantic fantasy with local music devotee Beatriz. In person and in their correspondence, he is persistent, she resistant, but curious. It doesn’t end quite as she might have imagined.

The redoubtable character of Elizabeth Costello appears in four stories, engaging in philosophical discussions about death, motherhood and ethics with her adult children, in particular her son John.

The Pole and Other Stories will make you think differently about life, death and animals